Tempting Divertion
by SofiaDragon
Summary: Thrawn meets up with a charismatic young woman with a mission of great importance.
1. There you are!

A Tempting Diversion

_by Sofia Dragon_

(beta read by E.M.D.)

                Five years after Endor, and in two weeks the Imperial forces would launch a campaign that would test the stability of the New Republic.  Just another stop for Sophia Grey, dimensional traveler.  It was her job to make sure a certain military commander kept his spirits up while he slaughtered the New Republic's solders.

                The Chiss believed in a strict policy of military defense and abhorred violence.  Even Thrawn, a prominent military leader and High Imperial Commander here, felt that killing was wrong.  Without some form of distraction there was a serious danger of him becoming preoccupied with the moral complexities involved in defending an evil Empire, thereby destroying one of the best works of science fiction in Sophia's home dimension.  Sophia has to prevent this, or else an entire cultural movement in the twenty-fifth century would collapse.

                Not too much pressure.  It was the idea of changing little things, such as fixing metaphorical literature or preventing a parking ticket that would snowball through time and space to prevent horrendous events or cause great ones.  Sophia's job was to give Thrawn a pre-owned book.

                Easy at the face of it, but far more complicated in practice.  She had to give it to him in person or else it may be delayed by nosey subordinates and security checks.  Sophia had never gone on a mission that ended up being simple.  Sophia was now walking through the streets on a fanatically loyal planet in a heavily loyal city, which he said a lot about the people in the city.  Here, Thrawn was going to announce his return perform the proper ceremonies to take over the remnants of the Empire.  Perhaps she could sneak the book onto the platform?  No, too much security there.  She could slip onto a transport ship afterward and…no, Thrawn wouldn't talk to her then.

                _Come on, Sophie! _a voice in the back of her head called.  _This is World War Three we are dealing with here_. Right, but Thrawn wouldn't give two licks about an ancient, to him, civilization that would eventually give him nothing but grief and casualties.  Nor would he believe that he was a fictional character, mostly because he wasn't a fictional character in this dimension.  It seemed hopeless.

               Sophia turned a corner, and nearly died of shock.  There was Thrawn, completely out of uniform, sitting at a small open-air café table waiting for service.


	2. Shall we do Lunch?

                "Altering the future is difficult and dangerous work, Sophia," her commander had often pointed out, "but sometimes fate hands a mission to you on a silver platter."  This was the first time that old windbag's prediction came true.  Now for some fast acting.

                Sophia quickly dusted on some make-up and whipped her slightly greasy hands on the inside back of her long denim jacket.  Some quick but accurate lip-gloss later, she walked straight for the café gate, paused a moment at the posted menu, and turned to look for a table.  Walking purposefully toward the shaded area where there were no extra tables she turned to the high commander.

               "Is this seat taken?" she asked politely. 

                "Wouldn't you rather sit in the sun?"  Thrawn's cool voice was like flowing water.  Perhaps not so much acting would be necessary, Sophia thought.

                "It's a bit warm out today, besides my eyes are a bit sensitive to the sun."  Sophia's UV reactive glasses had turned a deep navy blue, to back up her story and conceal her dreamy gaze.  The light lavender shirt Thrawn wore was about the same shade as his pale blue skin and just tight enough to look wonderful.  His eyes did not nearly glow as red as the description indicated, they had shifting patterns of twinkling light.  His hair was not simply dark blue, but an iridescent black color that would shine indigo when the light hit it.  Even his skin, Sophia belatedly realized, seemed to be a bit reflective instead of a flat tone.

                "In that case I don't think I'd mind the company after all, as long as you don't mind more questions."  Thrawn politely gestured to the empty seat across from him.

                _You are in the presence of a god_, the little voice pleaded, _don't__ screw it up._

                "I never mind questions, as long as they don't come too quickly," Sophia tactfully admitted as he took the offered chair.

                "No worry of that, Miss…?"

                "Sophia Grey, Sophie will do for this."

                "Well, Sophie, you are obviously not from around here with that accent.  Where are you from?" Thrawn smoothly began.

                "I don't have much of a home.  I travel from place to place doing a bit here and there to get by."

                "What "bit" would bring you here?"

                "Well, Mr….?"

                "Thrawn."

                "Thrawn, I'm here to observe, record, and report.  Then I get my orders and move a piece into position."

                "A reporter with organized crime connections, what a person to run into!"

                "No crime, just The Organization.  Imagine a huge game of strategy with hundreds upon thousands of possible players and moves.  A high-stakes game where winner takes all, but the loser didn't exist in the first place.  Each move making the web more tangled."

                "Sounds like a war game between some powerful criminal organizations."

                "You have it backwards entirely!  To win the game we prevent conflict, promote peace, inspire inventors and idealists, and most of all prevent wars."

                "So this Organization steps in to stop all wars it can?"

                "No, sometimes a war must be fought for the sake of higher purposes.  A particularly bloody war may shock a society to embrace peace for hundreds of years to come.  A technological or cold war might advance science greatly with minimal loss of life.  Sometimes it is the only way to teach a people an important lesson, or to reform a corrupt society permanently."  Sophia droned on, encouraged by Thrawn's cool interest and logical acceptance.

                "Is this a recruitment speech?" he asked when she finished.

                "You asked, I answered, and may I now ask you some questions?"

                "I don't see the harm in it."

                "Have you eaten here before?"

                "Yes," Thrawn suspiciously replied.

                "Then could you suggest anything, the waiter is coming our way."  Sophia gestured to the approaching woman and put her largish pack beneath her chair.


	3. The End

Final Chapter: Dinner and a Mission  
  
The roast bird and vegetables they ordered were wonderful, and throughout their lunch talk centered on such every-day things as the role of religion in a society, the effects of persecution of the mind, and how a life-debt was different from slavery.   
  
It was a typical conversation for Sophia, both mentally engaging and argumentative. Thrawn also seemed to enjoy himself, or did his eyes always sparkle so much?  
  
"I believe we have run out of trivial topics to entertain ourselves with," Sophia sarcastically admitted after swallowing the last of some sweat yellow veggie.  
  
"You call complex social behaviors a trivial topic? You must be very good at your little game to speak so lightly and accurately on such subjects. What are you after now anyway?" Oh, but he was slick.  
  
"You mean, does it have anything to do with a certain Grand Admiral Mith'raw'norudo coming form an extended mission to salvage the remains of the Empire, and if so, what?" Sophia offered with a whisper to the suddenly white Chiss.  
  
"What do you know?" he asked dryly.  
  
"About everything, that's how The Organization works. I've been studying for months. Then I came here to observe the society of this planet, record a number of important discrepancies, and report them to my commander. This," Sophia lifted a large folder form her open pack, "is my data, to which I will add all my notes." Sophia produced a slightly thinner folder, and set them both in front of her. Lifting the cover of the smaller, she wrote next to Thrawn's sketch:   
  
Lunch – 12:30 to 2:04  
  
Overall quite enjoyable personal experience  
  
No ties to mission. Strictly familiarizing with   
  
local subculture.  
  
"You knew all about me from the start. If this has no ties to any mission you are on why waste time?" Thrawn was flushed the color of his shirt in anger.  
  
"The late Lord A. Vader told me so much about you I could not resist, and if you haven't noticed the flirting by now I figure it isn't worth the effort. Short tip: you're gorgeous, so use it. At the very least recognize the fact, it will make your life simpler." The short, grey bodyguard Sophia had noted halfway through eating stepped forward now.  
  
A few moments of silence gave Sophia cause to continue. ""He's a great mind, Ms. Grey, and vastly informed," Vader said to me, "but I'd bet he hasn't heard of your Organization. He would not be interested unless he somehow got himself exiled again. Then again you can never hit him twice with the same trick." After hearing that, and taking a second look at that hair," Sophia pointed at Thrawn, "and those eyes, well, there was no more putting this off. He wanted me to let you borrow something of mine."  
  
"How do I know you aren't lying?"  
  
"I did not lie yet. I did make sure I was talking to the right man. I've only got this simple grey sketch and verbal description, and I don't just go about giving out books to enchanting blue men I meet at the café." Sophia pulled out a thick book with a white cover and the words:  
  
DUH!  
  
by Bob Fenster  
  
First printed 2,462 years prior to   
  
the founding of the Galactic Republic.  
  
"A very old book Lord Vader allegedly wanted me to borrow from a mysterious woman who knows too much, talks too much, and just might be trying to kill me. I think I'll pass."  
  
Sophia opened the front cover to reveal a long list of names. "Yes, they could be forged. On the other hand what harm can paper and ink do? The Stupid History of the Human Race is a good book, often added to, revised, and reprinted. This edition contains historical facts up to about midway through the Republic's rule and is a wonderful source of entertainment." Thrawn was only half listening as he looked over the list of names. On the top in a sloppy print was Sophia Maria Grey followed by a number of her friends, each crossed out. Then came names Thrawn might recognize. Qui-Gon Jinn, with the titles Jedi Knight and Master wedged into the tiny space before his name, crossed out neatly. Obi-Wan Kenobi, also crossed off but only the title Master wedged in. Anakin Skywalker, who's wiggly script was scribbled off. Lord Darth Vader's printed pen was broad and untouched. Sophia offered Thrawn a pen.  
  
"What would I want with a human history book?" he asked, ignoring the pen.  
  
"Read the first page," Sophia offered, still holding out the pen. The Noghri bodyguard examined the book for traps and handed it to his master, open to the suggested page. Within seconds, Thrawn was laughing.  
  
"This is real history?" Thrawn asked in disbelief. Sophia nodded. "Then I'll be needing that pen." Thrawn signed Syndic Mith'raw'norudo, crossed off Vader, and stood.  
  
"So I'm not an innocent woman… that does not mean I'm going to harm you. My missions are always trivial. A quarter-cred in a parking meter or the kicking of a tin can to the other side of a street. Precisely timed such tiny actions win the day. I've prevented a third planetary war that would have caused sterilization on my home planet this afternoon by altering a science fiction novel in a way that will never actually make it into the book. I've just added a dimension to the main character that will never be discussed outside the writer's own mind but greatly affect the believability and metaphorical meaning," Sophia explained.  
  
"How can you know that?" Thrawn asked.  
  
"Well, its like this," Sophia said as she wrote Mission Successful and Complete on a strip of paper with the heading Mission Report. "Vader said it best: with all those procedures and intricate connections, Time Travel must be more hell than putting on my uniform." Sophia quickly dumped her belongings into her pack and took off. Thrawn followed swiftly but she had ducked into an alley and activated her watch before he got here. All he saw was air.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Well I hoped you liked it. This, for those of you who weren't sure, is the end. If you would like to continue this story (I've had offers) just give me a little credit in the A/N for the idea next to the standard "None of us own Start Wars" disclaimer and get down with your bad self. Though I'd appreciate a heads-up so I can read and review your story too. While I'm on the subject: I don't own the rights to Star Wars OR Duh! Both of which were written by people far more talented by myself. I own two used teabags and a stirring stick, for those thinking of sueing. 


End file.
